NRL Fantasy 2020 Part 11 - The join your Leagues edition!

Whichever is better to play is irrelevant to which is more popular.

SC is more popular because 100% of the Qld print media, ~70% share of the Sydney print media, and the place where 5/8 games every week are shown are behind it.

By contrast, NRL fantasy is on a website. I do think NRL could do a bit more with it but they’d have to get sponsorship/partnership with 9/Fairfax to compete.

lukeaye wrote:

Better platform, better scoring system, better prizes, rewards higher skill plays and involvement. More enjoyable to play and harder to win due to it's unpredictability.

Fantasy is a pure statistician and strategy game. Yeah it's good but its not as fun to play or watch. Scoring is based on predictable metrics like run meters and tackles which is correlated to time on the field. It's honestly quite boring, it's water cooler chat at an actuary.

I acknowledge most here will disagree, that's fine they are different games, but for the large majority SC is a much better game. Most pureists in any game hate any sort of randomness, I do get that and I agree to a level. I just think fantasy could do a bit more with it scoring system (Try contributions, intercepts etc)

Oh undoubtedly I agree that the platform and prizes are better, but I am talking about the game mechanics itself. I rate Fantasy higher even without the sleek design and 50k prize, if it had these going for it then it would be a total KO. I agree that Supercoach is harder to win because of its unpredictability element, but it’s now clear that what I dislike about it is exactly what you like so we will have to agree to disagree. The random element makes me feel like i’m playing fantasy keno, whereas I prefer to be rewarded for watching 8 games a week and scrutinising the stats of each player to make my choices. But to each their own, I respect your opinion. I would also be open to extra stats like intercepts etc. in fantasy, but I would prefer it didn’t skew scoring towards the backs like in Supercoach because I like the current balance of it. But as I said, to each his own!

KalkadoonWarrior wrote:

Couldn’t disagree more with this....
NRL can’t shut up about Haas (neither can anyone) and he’s a frf so to say they don’t get the props they deserve is delusional at best.
And if SuperCoach was easy you would have won it (guarantee you haven’t).
To say that it requires very little skill and refer it to stock market trading is the dumbest shit I’ve read on here ( if trading stocks required no skill we’d all be millionaires)
I understand that the simpler form might be the more appealing form to you but all of these reasons are absolutely not factual and more just an emotional personal opinion.

I guess my point was that for the most part, backs that chime in the end of attacking plays and score the tries get all the notoriety in NRL, it takes a really special effort for a forward to get noticed. Of course Haas will get noticed, what he is doing in the game is impossible not to notice. But guys like Fensom, who put in 55 tackles every week but don’t do anything flashy, never get heard of outside fantasy circles (*cue the “Fensom was overrated in the real game” hate). Supercoach IS easy, but of course I havnt won it because the damn thing is like a lottery with whoever is scoring the tries. By seasons end the trickiest part is choosing which of your 25 guns to play and which to leave on the pine, and that becomes a further coin flip. May as well claim to be a really good Keno player! And in relation to my comments on stock trading taking skill, I was talking about NRLF, not Supercoach- read the damn posts before you go off your nut next time!

Pookus McFly wrote:

Disagree wholeheartedly. Supercoach is far too easy for my liking, and requires very little skill to play. You can jam your team full of so many of your favourite guns that I can’t think it’s made for anything but very casual players who enjoy rooting for their favourite superstars that week rather than NRLF where the larger aspect is on trying to build a team of underpriced nobodies, focusing on buy low and sell high stockmarket tactics. Also the fact that you get two rounds of free looks for the cows you want before price changes is ridiculous. I used to enjoy it when I played Dreamteam back in the day but for a competitive game that is already stuck on easy mode, it’s a bit too much. I have played both formats for a long time, and I will continue to play both through thick and thin but it is a no contest on which is the superior product. I also like how NRLF makes heroes of the hard working forwards. NRL itself is already skewed into making backs superstars when the big boys are the real unsung heroes of the competition, it is good to perpetuate some reality rather than reinforcing the lie!

Tl:dr- Supercoach is designed for office watercooler talk about which players scored that great try on the weekend to net you 50 points.

Couldn't agree more with this Pookus! Played SC for years before I started on fantasy and now could be bothered even looking at SC. It's a waste of time. Put a whole lot of effort into the research to create a squad only to be smashed week in week out by blokes who don't even know what they're doing.

At least fantasy is a challenge and usually very quickly sorts out the people that actually wanna play and those that dont. I liken SC to playing COD on recruit level
Fantasy is GOD tier. Lol.

I feel like im on an xbox forum trying to argue that PS4 is better!

I play both, they are both different but If i was forced to choose 1 I'd take SC.

This community is better than the SC one though!

lukeaye wrote:I feel like im on an xbox forum trying to argue that PS4 is better!

I play both, they are both different but If i was forced to choose 1 I'd take SC.

This community is better than the SC one though!

Haha good analogy
Both platforms will have their share of fanboys, but you won’t get much support around here

On the different Fantasy Games

Supercoach - I'm with Pookus more a Lottery.

NRL Fantasy - was gaining momentum some years ago and then bang Fanhub took over and the brand damage was immense with all their problems was absolutely ridiculous. Some good changes have occurred however like price variations not waiting 3 games and the reserve system is a big win so that you can have some cover if a player late withdraws. The degradation of Prizes over the years is sad. However this game is still the premium IMO

VDST/Sportsdeck - Good balance between Supercoach and NRL Fantasy

Geez the video ref in  Warrington vs Castleford must have been on the piss.

Cookie Monster wrote:With B/L's Survivor game we probably already have enough side competitions as is, but I thought I would throw this out there anyway. Would anyone be interested in a "how well do you know the fantasy credentials of your fellow Fanatics" tipping competition?

Very simply, you would select a Fanatic from each one of our ranked leagues (maybe just the top 12 leagues) and their scores over the season would constitute your overall score. Obviously, the highest overall scoring entrant wins. As part of this comp, I see a transfer window after every 6 rounds where you could punt one (maybe two?) underperforming Fanatic and pick up another from the same ranked league.

If you have an opinion on this please vote

(Upvote)   This is a terrible idea.

(Downvote)   Sounds OK. I might enter.


Could do a draft version instead/as well?

Fantastic idea Cookie! I'm in.

A Draft might be a bit difficult this late but maybe next year if we don't this year? How cool would a Draft of posters be!

Did you want to have a think and maybe set some parameters and then get some more feedback on here? Then if a few people are keen we could start a new thread.

Regarding the super coach v fantasy comments. I want the super coach platform with the fantasy scoring and I will call the game dream team. End of.

Great discussion on the merits of fantasy vs sc & I agree with both arguments. But I prefer fantasy over sc just because it's a very hard game constructing a squad & it's more difficult earning points. I also think you get less trades in fantasy so that adds to the difficulty.

i stopped playing SC because I hated the visual design of the website and found it cumbersome to use.

Pookus McFly wrote:

Oh undoubtedly I agree that the platform and prizes are better, but I am talking about the game mechanics itself. I rate Fantasy higher even without the sleek design and 50k prize, if it had these going for it then it would be a total KO. I agree that Supercoach is harder to win because of its unpredictability element, but it’s now clear that what I dislike about it is exactly what you like so we will have to agree to disagree. The random element makes me feel like i’m playing fantasy keno, whereas I prefer to be rewarded for watching 8 games a week and scrutinising the stats of each player to make my choices. But to each their own, I respect your opinion. I would also be open to extra stats like intercepts etc. in fantasy, but I would prefer it didn’t skew scoring towards the backs like in Supercoach because I like the current balance of it. But as I said, to each his own!



I guess my point was that for the most part, backs that chime in the end of attacking plays and score the tries get all the notoriety in NRL, it takes a really special effort for a forward to get noticed. Of course Haas will get noticed, what he is doing in the game is impossible not to notice. But guys like Fensom, who put in 55 tackles every week but don’t do anything flashy, never get heard of outside fantasy circles (*cue the “Fensom was overrated in the real game” hate). Supercoach IS easy, but of course I havnt won it because the damn thing is like a lottery with whoever is scoring the tries. By seasons end the trickiest part is choosing which of your 25 guns to play and which to leave on the pine, and that becomes a further coin flip. May as well claim to be a really good Keno player! And in relation to my comments on stock trading taking skill, I was talking about NRLF, not Supercoach- read the damn posts before you go off your nut next time!

I realise I’m not going to get any love on a fanatic fantasy site, doesn’t make you correct. To correlate predictability with skill is beyond stupid, but hey.... Lock in Haas as your C this year and congratulate yourself on a skill full decision

I want the old fantasy layout where u could only have 2 hookers and so on...much harder and a lot of different teams...not the same old cookie cutter team

KalkadoonWarrior wrote:

I realise I’m not going to get any love on a fanatic fantasy site, doesn’t make you correct. To correlate predictability with skill is beyond stupid, but hey.... Lock in Haas as your C this year and congratulate yourself on a skill full decision

I think the conclusion that everyone arrived to was that there is no correct, it’s just personal opinion. Someone gave theirs, I reciprocated with mine, you have given yours. There is no right or wrong it’s all subjective preference. The double edge to this is that your opinion also is not correct. And for the record, I will lock in Haas as my captain in both NRLF and SC, so keep your strawman arguments out of this.

Right. Now that that is sorted anyone got anything related to Fantasy?

Just had a watch of the Raiders v Bulldogs trial...
Horsburgh left the field at about 55mins and came back on with about 8 mins to go. He also had a little flurry of +10 fantasy points when he returned, 2 of his 3 Tbs and 1 of his 3 offloads coming in one move. He really seemed impressive in his hitout though, and I am warming to him more after watching this game. My biggest worry is that Bateman and his super mutant healing powers brings him back in 4 weeks.

Loving this pre TLT lull, all the serial posters of endless team iterations have worn themselves out and the analysis is pretty much exhausted as well, finally been able to catch up.

Fantasy is more predictable (relatively) and therefore you can be confident that doing your homework and making rational decisions can give you a big advantage on the casual player. Supercoach is a little wilder but the rewards are greater. At the end of the day neither of them will ever be won by an absolute noob so I reckon just enjoy playing both and make the most of what is on offer. These days I mostly treat these things as a chance to keep my knowledge sharp for DFS on Moneyball and Draftstars where I make actual money, rather than the pipe dream of winning these competitions (of course I still hope to achieve that also).

Anyway, I don't contribute much because I'm a farmer who also puts equal effort into fantasy for AFL, Golf, Cricket and NFL, but I massively appreciate the analysis and opinions of a lot of great posters on this forum. Good luck to everyone for the 2020 season!

Pookus McFly wrote:Just had a watch of the Raiders v Bulldogs trial...
Horsburgh left the field at about 55mins and came back on with about 8 mins to go. He also had a little flurry of +10 fantasy points when he returned, 2 of his 3 Tbs and 1 of his 3 offloads coming in one move. He really seemed impressive in his hitout though, and I am warming to him more after watching this game. My biggest worry is that Bateman and his super mutant healing powers brings him back in 4 weeks.

What position did he play? Did he play any lock?

Any chance Perham starts at centre for Warriors?

Any updates on fitness of Curran and RTS?

Rabbits21 wrote:Any chance Perham starts at centre for Warriors?

Any updates on fitness of Curran and RTS?

Warriors centres will be Hiku and the Fus.